Dell U2720Q UltraSharp 27 use code PLUSJY10 for a 10% discount
I am using this monitor and very happy with it.
Dell U2720Q UltraSharp 27 use code PLUSJY10 for a 10% discount
I am using this monitor and very happy with it.
Assuming a windows user, you can change the scaling to make text bigger. I have a 4K 32" and have everything set to 150%, as anything less is too small (and my eyesight is good, I just don't like the text smaller). I assume similar can be done with OS X and Linux.
This. Every modern operating system supports high-DPI UI scaling, I don't know why people are still confused about this. You can make the text and UI as big or small as you want.
You absolutely have to run at 150% scaling. 95% of UI elements displays correctly at scale. Some either gets a bit blury (some old apps) or disregards it entirely and ends up being tiny (often gtk, etc libraries I have found).
One convenience issue with scaling if you're different scales on a laptop. E.g. 150% docked on a 4k panel, and 100% scale on a native laptop screen as I've found it messes up window size and position so I'm constantly moving and resizing windows when going from laptop to docked screens.
Also if you're using 4k panels on a dock, lots of docks will really struggle with 2x 4k60hz panels.
As a cost benefit, it may be worth considering 27" WQHD at 100 or 125% scaling and possibly at a higher frequency if you're a gamer/love smoothness.
…just my $0.02 (edit: that was long. Actually my $0.10)
Yeah, that's definitely a bit annoying with the window positioning, definitively need to learn the shortcuts to move windows that are mostly off screen.
Interestingly, after working from home on 4k 32" for 9 months, I spent one day in the office in December and found the ~24" screens at 1080p to be very poor in terms of text sharpness. Bugged the crap out of me all day. Have never used 1440p so would be interested to see how that looks.
I have 34" 3440x1440 (Xiaomi 34), a 32" 4K (Samsung U32J590UQE) and a 27" 4K (S2721Q) - And the text quality downgrade between either of the 4K monitors and the Xiaomi is noticable - not so much that I'd cry if that is all I had, but if I had a choice (and I do), I do all text-heavy work (e.g. coding) on the 4K monitors.
The Xiaomi on the other hand completely gives me wood when gaming.
As someone who recently replaced a 27" 1080p with a 27" 4K, I chose 200% scaling so everything looks the same size; it's just so much nicer with the higher definition.
I use scaling. I've set the option "Let Window decide". There are very few apps that which scaling issues they are mostly my in-house developed work apps.
Im using my Dell S2721Q i got from another deal in same size and resolution.
Im about 85-100cm away from the screen and I have windows set to scale to 125% and my web browser is also set to 125% zoom.
some text is small (small-mode task bar, desktop icon text, start menu text but most, if not all of my regular apps are obeying the windows scaling settings and look quite good/normal.
nice and sharp, big text with plenty of screen space for RDS sessions, windowed apps everywhere (a holdover habit from using os x/mac os for 10 years) and im definitely not feeling cramped yet. my work station is 2x 1080p 24" panels and this setup at home is more screen space in a much smaller form factor.
just make sure your laptop/device can drive 4k60 or you'll be on 4k30 which is pretty gross.
Just a point: S2721QS giving me headache while using with macbook pro 16" with blurry / fuzzy text. Even on Ubuntu, At 2K or 1920 resolution, it is not that comfortable. Something happening which is not clear to me but i rarely get headache while looking at screen ( like imac etc ).
Some says it is DPI (163 in this case ) as Apple prefers 110 for non-retina display and 220 for retina … etc
using a monitor at any resolution below its actual resolution will always look blurrier?
On 4k resolution ( on mac, if it does not show you options then click outside somewhere and while holding option key, click again scaled radio button then you will see list of resolutions ), because text itself is very small, so it looks less blurry, but not sharp in my case. Dell kindly sent me another unit to test but still same.
However, U2720Q was quite normal and comfortable to look at on windows machine ( with pleasant colors ).
for 220 DPI, you need 5k on 27" screen.
In my experience, it can look blurry. But thing is that sometime text looks blurry but it is not giving you double vision ( like FHD screen ) even though you can see pixelated text. In case of S2721QS, it is giving me headache and double vision and backlight also seems harsh ( if you see reviews on rtings, then you will think i am wrong in every sense … ) …. on windows, It was not that terrible experience ( just spent few minutes ) ….
At 2K or 1920 resolution
What the hell… why are you running it at a low res? Run it at native 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels). Of course it's going to look blurry and terrible when you're not running it at native res.
running at 4K is too way small unless you have eyes of an eagle and it is not selected by default by macbook ( probably because it is 163 DPI ). Apparently, macbook does not choose 4k as default. Even i have 2k on IMac Retina 27" ( 2015) but it so comfortable ….
Something feels abnormal ( like refresh rate etc but when i see settings it is normal 60hz or 59hz )
I have tested with both HDMI and DisplayPort. On HDMI, Macbook thinks it is TV or something so color mode is set to YPbPr instead of RGB.
With DisplayPort, it is set on RGB but still not normal ( text itself is sharp but every character has shade or blurry edges ).
@aznain: Run at 4k res and use some form of UI scaling. I'm not sure what Mac calls it, but I think it actually does a better job than Windows. Running at a lower res isn't the right way to go.
If the Mac isn't picking the right resolution it's possible you have an ancient hdmi cable that can't meet the full 1.4 spec and your mac is dropping to a lower res, or the port you're using can't handle 4k? (but that seems unlikely)
@incipient: Thanks. I will try that. S2721QS supports DisplayPort 1.2 not 1.4. and Even macbook pro 16", The default for display corresponds to 1792 x 1120 scaled resolution.
@aznain: 4K mode is only useful if you're watching Apple TV, Binge and Netflix on 4K. (You need to go set the Resolution / Scaled).
As soon you scale the resolution to 4K video will start streaming in 4K.
You can also use Apple TV 4K box with the monitor and stream Amazon Prime shows on 4K if you like. Other than that 4K is pretty useless unless you want to edit high res RAW photos and Work on DaVinci Resolve.
I use USB C (Thunderbolt 3) to connect my MBP.
@amuthan: Yes, that's why 4k is not an objective but sharper clear text. Text is not clear enough for me at least ( tried different resolution / options ). One thing is that Sharpness value increment by 10 on Dell monitor. It means if you think 55 can be right for you, you can either set 50 or 60 but not 55.
Apple are responsible for much of the confusion because they present a completely different interface for low and high DPI displays, and hide the actual resolution output from the user on a High DPI display
On a low DPI display, you get a list of output resolutions.
On a high DPI display, you get a list of "looks like" resolutions that are scale factors, which on my 27" 4K, looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/oeHX0ar.png
- Looks like 1920x1080
- Looks like 2560x1440
- Looks like 3008x1692
- Looks like 3360x1800
- Looks like 3840x2160
Every single one of these selections outputs a native 4K 3840x2160 image. The first is at 200% scaling, the last is at 100% scaling. Everything in between is rendered at 2x (ie. 5k, 6k, 6.6k) internally (ie. take a screenshot and it'll be 5K) and then downscaled on-the-fly back to 4K for an effective 150%, 127%, 114%.
(Generally I find this "supersampling" approach to look much better than the native 150% rendering of Windows, but YMMV.)
If you option click the scaled button for the advanced settings, you get this monstrosity of a UI:
https://i.imgur.com/RMzHkpL.png
Where "2560x1440" actually means "Rendered at 5120x2880 @ 2x scaling and downscaled to 3840x2160" and "2560x1440 (low resolution)" means actual, honest-to-goodness 1440p output.
tl,dr: If you see the pretty pictures and the "looks like" resolutions, it's still a 4K native output. You can verify this by going into the menu on the Dell which shows the input res.
@SteveBuscemi: True that. I can see those options. I tried almost all of them, but text was still kind of blurry / fuzzy on S2721QS.
I have been using a Dell UltraSharp U2720Q with my MacBook Pro 15 (2018) on 4K 60 via USB C (Thunderbolt 3) for the past 6 months. The best Monitor I've ever had for photo editing and video editing.
Don't buy Dell S2721Q, if you want to use it with a MacBook Pro.
They are not the same. Dell UltraSharp U2720Q is far superior.
nobody said they were, but the resolution/size is the same, so the experience around those two variables will be the same.
S2721Q looks better when comparing to U2720Q on rtings.
Different panel and quality.
U series is reference monitor in Dell and UP series is Ultrasharp + Premier Colour.
@chickenfac: And U series are individually calibrated.
Can't be compared S or P series.
Experience is not the same when used with a MacBook Pro. That's what I meant.
If you want a bigger monitor for CAD or multimedia work, consider the $849 Philips 436M6VBPAB 43" 4K with HDR 1000.
On a budget, try the $649 Philips 436M6VBRAB 43" 4K with HDR 400 (no USB-C on this).
If people are scaling up their DPI setting in Windows on their 4K displays by 25%-50% just to view the text on a 27" monitor, what is the point of 4K at this size for everyday use? I would have thought 31" minimum for 4K use case as a computer monitor. (Not just gaming, everyday use case I mean).
Does it make the image shaper? Say if you had a 4K with 50-100% magnification increase, compared to a QHD with no added magnification?
TLDR: I prefer hi-res + scaling for sharper text at the cost of a slight loss in real estate because most websites and applications have a lot of white space doing nothing as it is. the only other way to get as much res comfortably is to go ultrawide or multi-monitor and neither of those solutions really suit my desk setup at home.
you arent really losing 25-50% of your screen real estate when you apply the scaling. really, you're just bumping up the text size so its easier to read from further away.
for example, this page right now I am running windowed, taking up (rough estimate) 30% of my screen. about 40% of the webpage is empty white space already (including this comment box) so all I'm really 'losing' is white space. most websites are full of white space (even moreso when you view them with the browser at full screen) so all you're doing is better utilising the space on your screen - filling it with easily readable text. theres even more white space if you turn on an adblocker.
sure you can 'fit more on' at once with smaller text but if its so hard to read that you are losing your place or squinting then whats the point? you've got a scroll wheel…
I can run my RDS session for work at 256x1440, windowed, and still have my native desktop apps running behind/next to it.
this 27" 4K monitor im using replaced a 27" imac with a QHD display so its a size i was already comfortable with in terms of ergonomics and the extra resolution bought me a) more screen space, which allows larger RDS session, which permits me to mimic my local desktop non-maxed-windows-everywhere approach.
I couldnt really do that on my old iMac because Windows 8 onwards (or win10, lets be honest) really doesnt like working on anything less than FHD. I RDS to our desktop environment and then have to RDS again to the management server, so having some breathing room to run app windows within the RDS session means when i am copying information or referencing something I dont need to minimise the management server, constantly going back and forth. some of the tools we regularly use would be placing the OK/cancel buttons beneath the Taskbar so you absolutely had to run them at full screen.
EDIT: worth mentioning my laptop is a Dell XPS 13" with 4K display that absolutely requires scaling to use comfortably.
Text is much sharper. I have a 4K (scaled to 150%) and a 1080p side by side. The text on the 4K is much crisper.
Has anyone used this on a PS5 just wondering how they go
I bought this monitor.
I ended up paying FULL PRICE due to Shopback denying my click/purchase on the Dell $100 Challenge (I was very careful with my purchases, all the small ones have no issue, just this big one)
The text is very small, and I had to use Dell display manager to help manage the windows.
This is a good price if you want one.
I am using it with Windows 10 USB-C to DP ALT Mode @4k 60Hz. I've set the scaling option "Let Window decide (or choose, don't remember exact wording as typing this message on my MacBook)". The text is very clear and crisp and very few apps have scaling issues.
The text is very small
Go into the Display settings in Windows, you can scale the user interface to be as big or small as you like. I have my "Scale and layout" set to 150%, but you can set it to 175% or 200% if you need it to be bigger.
For windows, You can use Dell Display Manager as well
Question @OP
How do you find 4k at 27 inches? Does text etc appear a little small? How far away from the screen do you sit?